Ontario government concludes consultation on provincial education system

Ontario's Education Minister Lisa Thompson attends Question Period at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Thursday, August 2, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO:The Ontario government says it has wrapped up a large-scale public consultation on the province’s education system.

Education Minister Lisa Thompson announced the consultation earlier this year amid controversy about the province’s sex-ed curriculum.

The Progressive Conservative government repealed a version implemented by the former Liberal regime in 2015, which addressed issues such as cyberbullying and gender identity, and temporarily replaced it with one based on the 1998 curriculum.

The government says its consultation, conducted via online submissions and telephone town halls, will help shape other policy areas beyond sex ed.

It says areas of focus will include improving student performance in science and math disciplines, improving standardized testing results, managing the use of technology in the class, and teaching student skills including skilled trades, coding and financial literacy.

Thompson says the government will provide an update on the results of the consultation in the winter of 2019.